As you may be aware, Moodle courses moving forward will be displayed through a new, responsive theme that has a contemporary look and feel. In the EMT department we’ve affectionately referred to the theme as The Green Machine, The Green Goddess and The Jolly Green Giant. Kidding aside, we also debated upgrading Moodle to a newer version that offered new features and functions.

In the end, we decided not to upgrade Moodle and introduce a new theme simultaneously. However, to be transparent and keep you informed about changes coming down the pike, we want to let you know a little about upcoming upgrades to Moodle.

To Upgrade or not to Upgrade

Originally, we thought that we’d roll out Moodle 2.9 in conjunction with the new theme. We’re currently running the 2.7 version, and 2.9 offers several advanced features that have been requested by instructors. Unfortunately, the stable release of 2.9 was just a bit late for our time table here at NMC so we turned our sights to 2.8.

We launched a staging site with 2.8, installed the theme, started our testing process but there were significant changes in the grade book that forced us to think about the timing of the upgrade. Ultimately, we decided to stick with 2.7 – the version of Moodle that you know and love – for the time being. At least for summer courses, Moodle functions will remain the same – you’ll only have to get use to the new theme.

A Change is Gonna Come

Change is inevitable, and an upgrade to either Moodle 2.8 or 2.9 will happen at some point soon. Moodle will support 2.7 for another two years, but we’ll look to upgrade well before support for that version expires to provide requested, new features. As soon as a stable release of 2.9 is available, we’ll start comprehensive testing and decide between 2.8 and 2.9 with the best interest of our students and instructors in mind.

We’ll prepare training materials, make announcements and be available to you before, during and after the upgrade process. In the meantime, enjoy the new theme. We had a few training sessions recently on the new theme. If you missed them, view our handout or submit a support request to schedule a brief consultation to learn more.